Written Answers Thursday 25 February 2010

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much EU funding was paid to Scottish farmers for agricultural support in 2008-09.

Richard Lochhead: In financial year 2008-09, the European Commission contributed £486 million towards the cost of support paid to farmers. The schemes involved both measures fully funded by the EC and those co-funded in partnership with the Scottish Government but, for the avoidance of doubt, the figure quoted represents solely the amount of EC funding.

Ambulance Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage increase in demand for ambulance services has been in the last eight years, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: A detailed response to this question is available from the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 50181).

Antisocial Behaviour

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many antisocial behaviour notices have been issued in Fife in each year since 2005.

Fergus Ewing: Antisocial behaviour notices came into effect from 1 April 2006. The information requested is not held centrally. Provision of such information requires local authorities to gather and maintain data. Subsequent submission of this information to the Scottish government for national collation would incur additional costs to the tax payer.

Bridges

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30964 by Stewart Stevenson on 29 January 2010, when it expects work on costed options for the replacement Inveramsay Bridge to be completed.

Stewart Stevenson: The work on the costed options is being taken forward as part of Network Rail’s development of our proposals for the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line. This work is programmed to be undertaken over the next 12 months.

Bridges

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30964 by Stewart Stevenson on 29 January 2010, when it expects to start the consultation on a preferred road alignment for the replacement Inveramsay Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: Consultation on a preferred road alignment for the replacement Inveramsay Bridge will take place after the current work on costed options. The work on the costed options is being taken forward as part of Network Rail’s development of our proposals for the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line. This work is programmed to be undertaken over the next 12 months.

Cancer

Gil Paterson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each NHS board spent on implementing the Gold Standards Framework Scotland in 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. The Gold Standards Framework Scotland (GSFS) programme ended in October 2006. The GSFS was funded in partnership by the Big Lottery Fund, Macmillan Cancer Relief and NHS Scotland via the three cancer networks (South East of Scotland Cancer Network, North of Scotland Cancer Network and West of Scotland Cancer Network).

  In October 2008, Living and Dying Well (L&DW) a national action plan for palliative care in Scotland was published by the Scottish Government and accessible from:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/LivingandDyingWell.

  Whilst L&DW reflects the ethos of the GSFS programme it also builds on it, to develop a single, comprehensive approach to the provision of palliative care to enable it to be embedded across Scotland, regardless of age, condition or care setting.

Concessionary Travel

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fraudulent claims have been made to the national concessionary travel scheme since 2006.

Stewart Stevenson: Since the introduction of the scheme in 2006, three suspected fraudulent claims have been referred to the police. Of these, one has been called to court and is awaiting a hearing. The remaining two cases continue to be progressed.

Constitution

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total production cost was of Your Scotland, Your Voice: A National Conversation ; how many copies were printed, and to whom they were distributed.

Bruce Crawford: The Scottish Government produced 2,250 copies of Your Scotland, Your Voice . The total cost for the production, publication and distribution of the White Paper was approximately £50,000.

  All public libraries in Scotland received copies, as did all MSPs, MPs and MEPs representing Scottish constituencies, as well as the leaders of the parties in the Scottish Parliament and the Presiding Officer. Copies were also placed in the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 49796).

  Copies were also provided to governmental leaders throughout the United Kingdom, as well as to certain members of the Royal Family. Copies were distributed to Scottish civic society organisations and were available to the media.

  The total cost of National Conversation events, branding and publications, including the cost of Your Scotland, Your Voice, is £394,737 to date. The National Conversation successfully engaged over 5,000 people at public events across Scotland and stimulated a wide ranging public debate involving academics, media, faith groups, business, voluntary organisations, trade unions, young people and ethnic minority communities. The debate also prompted over 600,000 hits on the National Conversation web pages.

  The National Conversation was supported by a number of Scottish Government publications which examined the effect of constitutional change across a range of issues of importance to the people of Scotland, and culminated in the publication of a White Paper Your Scotland Your Voice on St Andrew’s Day 2009.

  The member will also be aware of the published costs of approximately £625,000 incurred by the UK Government and the Scottish Parliament to support the work of the Commission on Scottish Devolution, and to produce the UK Government’s response which was set out in the publication of Scotland’s Future in the United Kingdom.

Constitution

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimated cost is of the National Conversation.

Bruce Crawford: The total cost of National Conversation events, branding and publications is £394,737 to date. The National Conversation successfully engaged over 5,000 people at public events across Scotland and stimulated a wide ranging public debate involving academics, media, faith groups, business, voluntary organisations, trade unions, young people and ethnic minority communities. The debate also prompted over 600,000 hits on the National Conversation web pages.

  The National Conversation was supported by a number of Scottish Government publications which examined the effect of constitutional change across a range of issues of importance to the people of Scotland, and culminated in the publication of a White Paper Your Scotland Your Voice on St Andrew’s Day 2009.

  The member will also be aware of the published costs of approximately £625,000 incurred by the UK Government and the Scottish Parliament to support the work of the Commission on Scottish Devolution, and to produce the UK Government’s response which was set out in the publication of Scotland’s Future in the United Kingdom.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the finding of the 2008-09 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: Drug Use that 24.1% of those who had ever used drugs first tried them when they were under 16 years of age and what action it plans to take.

Fergus Ewing: It is clear from the evidence that the destructive impact of drug misuse on individuals, families and communities is considerable. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that this should not be a legacy for our children and young people to inherit. We want to ensure that all young people are able to make informed choices about their lives by ensuring that they have access to credible information and support, that is why we continue to:

  invest in the Know the Score campaign which offers reliable and non judgemental advice about substance misuse via our helpline, website and awareness weekends;

  provide core funding for a number of national youth work organisations that work with hard to reach and vulnerable young people; helping them to build up their self-esteem and confidence and to make a positive contribution to their communities;

  invest over £13 million in the CashBack for Communities scheme which includes a range of partnerships with Scottish sporting, arts and youth work organisations to deliver a programme of diversionary activities, with over 100,000 young people benefiting so far;

  support the Choices for Life initiative which engages young people (250,000 so far) in substance misuse education at an important transitional period in their lives (primary to secondary school), and

  work within the context of the Curriculum for Excellence, placing a new emphasis on all staff to promote young people’s health and wellbeing outcomes; including a more holistic health and wellbeing agenda which incorporates substance misuse education.

Drug Misuse

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the finding of the 2008-09 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: Drug Use that Class A drugs are more likely to be the first drug taken by females under the age of 16 than any other age group and what action it plans to take.

Fergus Ewing: The 2008-09 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: Drug Use asked adults aged over 16 years (who reported trying drugs at some point in their lives) to remember at what age they first tried drugs and what type of drug they had first used. The survey found that cannabis was the most commonly reported drug first tried in all age groups and genders. Amongst the small number of females who indicated that they had tried drugs under the age of 16 years, the most commonly used drugs were cannabis (67.1% - Class B), glues/solvents (10.1%), poppers (7%) and ecstasy (5.5 Class A).

  While it is difficult to draw any strong conclusions from the observation that "Class A drugs are more likely to be the first drug taken by females under the age of 16 than any other age group", the Scottish Government has a set in place a comprehensive and wide reaching set of measures to protect all young people from the destructive harm of drug misuse. These measure are laid out in the response to S3W-31336, on 25 February 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Education

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that college staff responsible for the delivery of the Curriculum for Excellence receive the necessary training.

Keith Brown: Colleges are autonomous institutions with responsibility for ensuring that their staff are fully equipped to undertake the duties that will support Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). Colleges are committed to the adoption of CfE, and are actively represented on the CfE Management Board by Graeme Hyslop, the Principal of Langside College. Colleges have also embraced the ADES led Programme Implementation Framework which incorporates college sector specific issues and actions.

  As well as supporting the ongoing development of CfE within college lecturer teaching qualifications, the Scottish Government provided the colleges’ training and development body Scotland’s Colleges with additional funding to support a rolling programme of CfE training events, for all levels of college staff including senior management and practitioner levels. Scotland’s colleges and Learning and Teaching Scotland are also now working together on planning joint training events for school and college staff in 2010-11.

  Additionally, Graeme Hyslop has recently accepted the post of chair on the newly refreshed strategic and advisory staff development body the FE Professional Development Forum. The Scottish Government welcomes this as a positive move in further positioning and highlighting the importance of CfE within all staff training and development in colleges.

Environment

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is supporting local authorities to achieve environmental targets.

Roseanna Cunningham: Under the current settlement Scotland’s councils are continuing to receive an increasing share of the total Scottish budget. It is for local authorities to determine how they allocate resources according to local priorities and needs.

  The Scottish Government directly supports a wide variety of programmes to help local authorities achieve environmental targets, for example the Carbon Trust Carbon Management Programme, which helps organisations to reduce their carbon emissions, and the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) which provides expert support, guidance and advice to local authority Sustainable Development officers.

Environment

Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Fife Council has applied to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for a licence under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 to dredge the Kinness Burn in St Andrews.

Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency have advised that Fife Council has not submitted an application for a licence under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 to dredge the Kinness Burn in St Andrews.

Environment

Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency regarding dredging and removing silt berms in the Kinness Burn in St Andrews.

Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has not discussed dredging and removing silt berms in the Kinness Burn in St Andrews with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Ferry Services

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason the Edinburgh tram project did not appear in the written evidence provided to the Public Audit Committee by the Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Executive in January 2010 regarding progress on major capital projects.

John Swinney: In his submissions to the Public Audit Committee of 30 June 2009 and 21 December 2009 on major capital projects the Permanent Secretary stated that the information provided did not include projects which are the responsibility of local authorities. The Edinburgh tram project did not appear in the written evidence provided to the Public Audit Committee because the project is being delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council.

Ferry Services

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been approached by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport for financial support to assist in maintaining the Renfrew Ferry.

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been approached with any requests to assist in maintaining the Renfrew Ferry.

Stewart Stevenson: No. The Assistant Chief Executive of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport wrote to officials on 19 January raising the subject of SPT revenue grant funding levels generally, but did not seek direct support for the Renfrew to Yoker Ferry. The Scottish Government is pleased to maintain current levels of grant funding for 2010-11. Decisions on how to allocate this funding, and matters related to the ferry service, are a matter for the partnership itself.

Ferry Services

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual financial subsidy is to the Renfrew Ferry.

Stewart Stevenson: The issue of financial subsidy for the Renfrew Ferry is a matter for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport.

  The Scottish Government provides revenue grant funding of £1.22 million per annum to support Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s core operations and revenue projects. We are committed to maintaining this level of support for 2010-11. Decisions on how this funding is to be allocated are a matter for Strathclyde Partnership for Transport itself. We do not provide any specific subsidy for the Renfrew Ferry.

Fertility Treatment

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29848 by Shona Robison on 12 January 2010, when the summary of responses from NHS boards on IVF treatment will be published.

Shona Robison: The summary of responses from NHS boards on IVF treatment will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) (Bib. number 49114).

Film Industry

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage film production in Scotland.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many film productions there have been in Scotland in each year since 2005.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made representations to the UK Government regarding offering production incentives to film producers in order to promote investment in the Scottish film industry.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is in contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including matters relating to the film industry. On 19 March 2009, Scottish Screen submitted a response to the House of Lords Communications Committee’s inquiry into British film and television, launched in February 2009. The full response can be found on the UK Parliament’s website:

  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldselect/ldcomuni/37/37we24.htm.

  It can also be located in pages 590 to 606 of the Lords’ Communications Committee’s report (Volume II), published on 24 January 2010 and available at:

  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldselect/ldcomuni/37/37ii.pdf.

  Scottish Screen raised concerns that while Scotland’s film and television production sector has the potential for a vibrant future, capitalising on these opportunities will require concerted and sustained effort, including from organisations with UK-wide as well as specifically Scottish responsibilities. Scottish Screen also articulated that although the Scottish film industry has benefited from the introduction of the UK tax credit, the system has limitations that mean Scotland is unable to compete globally in its own right to attract continuing investment.

  Scottish Screen is Scotland’s national agency for the screen industries and carries out a wide range of work to promote those industries. It received in 2009-10, £3.24 million Grant in Aid and approximately £2.16 million of National Lottery funding. The five priority areas of Scottish Screen are: Education; Enterprise and Skills; Inward Investment; Market Development, and, fostering talent and creativity.

  In the last five years, some of Scottish Screen’s achievements have included:

  Developing and producing distinctive screen content through investing £10 million in films such as, The Last King of Scotland and Red Road.

  Attracting more than £125 million of production business into Scotland with support from Scottish Screen Locations, sustaining more than 500 jobs.

  Building the scale of 11 Scottish screen businesses, through investing £1 million in business development loans and slate finance.

  Since 2005 the following number of feature films have been shot in Scotland:

  Feature Films made in Scotland

  

Year
 


2005
16


2006
23


2007
22


2008
18



  Source: Scottish Screen.

Finance

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-31046 by John Swinney on 3 February 2010 in which it states that it estimates that the non-domestic rate poundage will deliver a benefit to Scottish business of around £220 million in 2010-11, what the equivalent figures were for (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10.

John Swinney: The information requested is not held. It is not possible to retrospectively provide an estimate as to what assumptions we would have made in setting the 2008-09 and 2009-10 poundage rates.

Fire Service

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people rescued from fires by the fire service in the last three years were (a) injured and (b) uninjured in each (i) region and (ii) fire brigade area.

Fergus Ewing: The number of persons rescued from fires 1 by the Fire and Rescue Services for the latest three years for which data is available is shown in table (a) below for those recorded as a non-fatal casualty 2 .

  

Table 1 – Year
2005
2006
2007


Central Scotland
32
20
50


Dumfries and Galloway
8
6
4


Fife
30
37
22


Grampian
37
64
70


Highlands and Islands
9
12
10


Lothian and Borders
106
110
131


Strathclyde
238
251
291


Tayside
43
51
37


Total
503
551
615



  Source: FDR1.

  Notes:

  1. Includes late call, heat and smoke damage only incidents.

  2. Non-Fatal Casualty – Non-fatal casualties consists of persons requiring medical treatment beyond first aid given at the scene of the fire, and those sent to hospital or advised to see a doctor for a check-up or observation (whether or not they actually do). People sent to hospital or advised to see a doctor as a precaution, having no obvious injury, are recorded as "precautionary check-ups".

  It is not possible to provide the information as requested in part (b)(ii). Rescue data for non-injured persons is sampled and a weighting methodology is used to analyse this data. Whilst this provides estimates at a Scotland level, it does not enable an accurate assessment to be made of the number of non-injured persons who are rescued by individual Fire and Rescue Services.

  The Fire and Rescue Service area is the same geographical area as the region.

Forth Crossing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30823 by Stewart Stevenson on 27 January 2010, what further meetings are planned in relation to its engagement with the public, affected parties and stakeholders.

Stewart Stevenson: A meeting has been planned for 8 March with Queensferry and District Community Council to present details of traffic analysis of the scheme.

  We have recently received details of the objections received to the Forth Crossing Bill. Once these have been considered it is our intention to respond to and to meet objectors to discuss the issues they have raised.

Forth Crossing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has given consideration to a permanent visitor centre for all three Forth bridges on the site of the old Forth Bridges Motel.

Stewart Stevenson: No consideration has been given to this as yet.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-30821 on 27 January 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Forth Crossing

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30964 by Stewart Stevenson on 29 January 2010, who it plans to consult on the preferred road alignment for the replacement Inveramsay Bridge.

Stewart Stevenson: Once the costed options for the rail bridge have been produced, Transport Scotland will consider the way forward regarding consultation on the preferred road alignment.

Forth Crossing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30820 by Stewart Stevenson on 4 February 2010, which ministers have visited areas affected by the Forth Replacement Crossing; on what dates; what groups or organisations they met, and what reports they have made of their visits.

Stewart Stevenson: The Forth Replacement Crossing will be a project which will affect Scotland as a whole and is designed to safeguard a vital connection in the country’s transport network. Ministers have met a wide range of groups and organisations since May 2007.

Forth Crossing

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what restrictions on the hours of working it is proposing to introduce in relation to contractors on the Forth Replacement Crossing and allied works.

Stewart Stevenson: Details of the working hours are contained in the Code of Construction Practice which was published following the introduction of the Forth Crossing Bill to the Parliament on 17 November 2009.

General Practitioners

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it took to ensure the validity of the responses to the GP patient access survey for 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: The GP patient access survey was developed in consultation with the Scottish General Practitioners Committee and the Royal College of General Practitioners, and was cognitively tested by IPSOS Mori on members of the public. The questionnaire was sent to a completely random sample of adults registered with each GP practice in Scotland. Only patients who said they had tried to make the relevant contact in the past 12 months were included in the calculation, and any incomplete or erroneous responses were excluded.

General Practitioners

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the response rate was to the patient access questions in the GP patient access survey for 2008-09, broken down by (a) mean, (b) median and (c) standard deviation.

Nicola Sturgeon: The overall response rate to the 2008-09 GP patient access survey was 50%. However, the number of responses that could be used in the calculation of the QOF patient experience of access indicators PE7 and PE8 was less than the number of questionnaires that were returned. This was mainly because people had not tried to access the practice in the way specified.

  The results for the QOF indicators were derived from combinations of 3 questions (PE7) and 2 questions (PE8). Therefore, the valid responses for an indicator depended on the sequence of questions being answered, and not just a response rate to a particular question – which would be higher. For example, those who missed out a question or ticked more than one option in a question were excluded from the analysis for that indicator. The observed valid response rates (as % of the total number sent out) are shown in the following table.

  

 
(a) Mean
(b) Median
(c) Standard Deviation


PE7 (48 hour access)
37%
37%
8%


PE8 (advance access)
23%
24%
6%

General Practitioners

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it took to cross-check the validity of the responses to the GP patient access survey for 2008-09 before reducing GP practice Quality and Outcomes Framework funding.

Nicola Sturgeon: Available Quality and Outcomes Framework funding was the same in 2008-09 as it was in the previous year. Changes in the way some of the points were allocated (as explained in the answer to question S3W-31402 on 25 February 2010) were agreed at the UK level. The payments for indicators on PE7 and PE8 were based on the survey results as stated in the Statement of Financial Entitlement.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

General Practitioners

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive by how much Quality and Outcomes Framework funding to GP practices for 2009-10 has (a) decreased and (b) increased as a result of the GP patient access survey for 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) payments made to Scottish GP practices for the 2008-09 year totalled approximately £128 million, compared with approximately £131 million for 2007-08. The overall reduction in payments was as a consequence of a series of changes made to the structure of the QOF between those two years. These changes included, but were not limited to, the use of the 2008-09 GP patient access survey.

  The table below provides detail on payments associated with different parts of the QOF for 2007-08 and 2008-09. It is based on data for 996 Scottish General Practices that were open in both years and for which detailed comparable payments data are held centrally.

  The two QOF indicators that were derived from the 2008-09 GP patient access survey (PE07 and PE08) had between them up to 58.5 QOF points available to each GP practice. This compares with 20 points available for a previous patient experience survey indicator (PE05) included in the 2007-08 QOF. Across 996 Scottish GP practices for which we can directly compare detailed payments information for 2007-08 with 2008-09, payments for this part of the patient experience domain of the QOF increased by approximately £2.5 million.

  However, other indicators were removed from the 2007-08 QOF and the points that were previously available for these indicators were redistributed to the new PE07 and PE08 patient survey indicators. Many practices had achieved very high scores against the indicators that were removed, such as the holistic care bonus, which rewarded practices for consistently high achievement against clinical indicators (those covering health conditions such as diabetes, CHD and hypertension). The loss of practice income previously associated with holistic care and other indicators (approximately £4.7 million across the 996 practices compared) was greater than the increase in payments made under the revised patient experience domain of the QOF. This resulted in an overall reduction of approximately £2.2 million in payments to the 996 practices for which detailed comparisons have been made.

  Payments for QOF year 2007-081,2

  

Indicator / Group
Points Available
% of Points Achieved
Total Payment


Indicators/points in 2007-08 but removed for 2008-09
 
 
 


PE05
20.0
97.4 
 £2,574,678 


Holistic Care bonus
20.0
95.5 
 £2,538,798 


COPD09 3
5.0
98.9 
 £636,566 


Other indicators removed for 2008/09
13.5
87.6 
 £1,564,577 


Rest of QOF indicators
 
 
 


Indicators in QOF in both 2007-08 and 2008-09
941.5
98.0 
 £119,962,575 


Total for 2007-08 QOF
1,000.0
97.8 
 £127,277,194 


Payments for QOF year 2008-09 1
 
 
 


PE07/PE08
58.5
75.0 
 £5,060,206 


Rest of QOF indicators
 
 
 


Indicators in QOF in both 2007-08 and 2008-09
941.5
98.3 
 £120,183,378 


Total for 2008-09 QOF
1,000.0
96.9 
 £125,243,584 



  Notes:

  1. Based on data for 996 Scottish General Practices that were open in both years and for which detailed comparable payments data are held centrally. In each of these years the total number of GP practices in Scotland was around 1,015.

  2. These figures do not reflect any local or national adjustments that may have been made to practice payments after QOF achievement data for each year were published at:

  www.isdscotland.org/qof.

  3. COPD09 had 10 points available for 2007-08, reduced to five for 2008-09. In the table shown here, payments associated with five of the COPD09 points in 2007-08 have been shown against COPD09. Payments for the other five points have been included under Rest of QOF indicators to give a like for like comparison with 2008-09.

General Practitioners

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many GP practices in each NHS board area the Quality and Outcomes Framework funding has (a) increased, (b) remained the same and (c) decreased as a result of the GP patient access survey for 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: The table below shows the number of practices for which total Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) payments for 2008-09 (a) increased by 1% or more, (b) changed by less than 1% and (c) decreased by 1% or more relative to 2007-08. No practice received exactly the same QOF payment in both years. The table is based on data for 996 Scottish General Practices that were open in both years and for which detailed comparable payments data are held centrally. For context, in each of these years the total number of GP practices in Scotland was around 1,015.

  As explained in question S3W-31402 on 25 February 2010, the overall change in payments made to practices for the 2008-09 year was the product of a number of changes made to the structure of the QOF between 2007-08 and 2008-09, which included, but were not limited to, the introduction of new indicators derived from the 2008-09 GP patient access survey. Detailed information on the QOF points achieved by Scottish general practices in each year is published at www.isdscotland.org/qof.

  Change to total QOF Payments between 2007-08 and 2008-092

  

NHS Board
Number of Practices1
(a) Increased by 1% or More
(b) Changed by Less than 1%
(c) Decreased by 1% or More


Ayrshire and Arran
59
7
13
39


Borders
25
7
10
8


Dumfries and Galloway
35
5
18
12


Fife
56
10
12
34


Forth Valley
56
13
14
29


Grampian
76
19
26
31


Greater Glasgow and Clyde
271
47
79
145


Highland
102
45
25
32


Lanarkshire
98
14
18
66


Lothian
118
19
36
63


Orkney
12
7
2
3


Shetland
10
0
5
5


Tayside
66
12
18
36


Western Isles
12
7
4
1


Scotland
996
212
280
504



  Notes:

  1. Based on data for 996 Scottish General Practices that were open in both years and for which detailed comparable payments data are held centrally. In each of these years the total number of GP practices in Scotland was around 1,015.

  2. These figures do not reflect any local or national adjustments that may have been made to practice payments after QOF achievement data for each year were published at:

  www.isdscotland.org/qof.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

General Practitioners

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to ensure equity of approach to appeals against the reduction of Quality and Outcomes Framework funding resulting from the application of the GP patient access survey for 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: The procedure for contract dispute resolution is set out in the GP contract regulations, under which the contractor and health board are expected to make every reasonable effort to communicate and co-operate with each other with a view to resolving the dispute. It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to issue guidance on this, since such disputes may ultimately be referred to Scottish ministers for decision.

General Practitioners

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many GPs from outwith the United Kingdom are working for the NHS, broken down by NHS board area.

Nicola Sturgeon: This is a matter for the NHS health boards. The information requested is not held centrally.

Glasgow Airport Rail Link

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce or other business organisations on its decision to cancel the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

Stewart Stevenson: I met with members of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce on 25 November 2009 and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth is due to meet with them on 3 March 2010. Whilst we appreciate the Chamber’s views on the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, the overall affordability position on the Scottish Budget meant we had reluctantly to cancel the project. It should be remembered that significant investment in the Glasgow to Paisley rail corridor continues under the Paisley Corridor Improvements project.

Health

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the proposed review of the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 referred to in the letter dated 21 May 2009 from the Primary and Community Care Directorate to the Public Petitions Committee.

Iain Smith (North East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish a formal consultation on the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

Shona Robison: We intend to publish a consultation document in March.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to enable people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary hypertension to receive essential supplementary oxygen when travelling by plane around and out of Scotland.

Stewart Stevenson: The provision of supplemental oxygen on board Aircraft is a matter for individual airlines and the process is set out in their conditions of carriage. The UK Department for Transport’s 2008 Code of Practice on Access to Air Travel for Disabled Persons and Persons with Reduced Mobility also provides guidance on the carriage of oxygen required for medical use. The relevant sections are at 7.30-7.32 of the code in the link below:

  www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/access/aviationshipping/accesstoairtravelfordisabled.pdf.

Housing

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to replicate the Armed Forces Home Ownership Scheme that is being piloted in England.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government already offers priority access to its Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT) shared equity schemes to service personnel, veterans who have left the forces in the past year and widows or partners of personnel who have been killed in the course of their duties in the past year.

  We have asked the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to consider funding an equivalent to their pilot Armed Forces Home Ownership Scheme for service personnel in Scotland who wish to buy a home. The MOD has indicated that this will not be considered at this time, but we will continue our efforts to ensure that service personnel in Scotland get the same opportunities as those elsewhere in the UK.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average rent levied by each local authority was in 2009.

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average rent levied by each housing association was in 2009.

Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-28126 on 27 October 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to increase access to counselling and psychotherapy services for primary and secondary school pupils.

Adam Ingram: It is for local authorities and NHS boards to design and determine the level of services provided to meet the needs of children and young people who require access to counselling and psychotherapy services, based on local priorities and clinical need.

  The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, requires education authorities to identify, meet and keep under review the additional support needs of all children for whose education they are responsible, including those with behavioural, social, emotional or mental health difficulties. Appropriate agencies, which includes NHS boards, are required to assist an education authority in the exercise of any of its functions under the act.

  As part of our commitment to implementing The Mental Health of Children and Young People: A Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care by 2015, NHS boards are required to work in partnership with local authorities, schools and the voluntary sector. As part of this function, NHS boards are making available a named health link contact to every school to ensure support and links are in place to child and adolescent mental health services - both voluntary and statutory.

  To address the recognised shortfall in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS) workforce we are investing an additional £5.5 million more per year by 2011-12. This will increase the number of psychologists working in specialist CAMHS as well as support our new waiting time target for specialist CAMHS which means that by March 2013 no one will wait longer than 26 weeks from referral to treatment.

Mental Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of its £5.5 million additional funding for child and adolescent mental health services will be spent on (a) staffing, (b) additional bed capacity and (c) community interventions.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many extra staff will be employed as a consequence of its £5.5 million additional funding for child and adolescent mental health services, broken down by speciality.

Shona Robison: Our investment of an additional £5.5 million more per year in CAMHS by 2011-12 is to increase capacity in the CAMHS workforce to ensure implementation of the CAMHS Framework.  We expect this significant investment to lead to an increase in the CAMHS workforce of about 15% to 20% by that date.

  The £5.5 million is made up of two elements, £3.5 million to increase the number of psychologists and £2 million to enhance the intensive community services and reduce the need for children and young people to be admitted to hospital.

  We are allocating £6.5 million in total over the next three years to increase the number of psychologists working in specialist CAMHS with £1 million in 2009-10, £2 million in 2010-11 and rising to the £3.5 million referred to above in 2011-12

  In addition to recruiting new psychology staff, the resources will fund 10 additional training places for Doctoral Clinical Psychology on the September 2009 intake and again in 2010 and 2011 on top of the already agreed intake numbers. The resources will also fund an additional five training places on the February 2010, 2011 and 2012 intakes for the Masters level psychologist programme: Applied Psychology for Children and Young People. By 2011-12, we expect to have around an additional 60 CAMHS specialist clinical psychologists or trainees and an additional 45-50 masters level applied psychologists in the workforce.

  We are also making available £2 million each year, to be matched by NHS boards, to enhance the intensive community services and reduce the need for children and young people to be admitted to hospital. In the North of Scotland, where consideration is still ongoing around the need to increase the number of inpatient beds, the money is to be used to support this process, as well as the development of intensive community services. In the east and west regions, the money is being targeted at increasing workforce and the development of intensive community services.

  Whilst each of the regional proposals we are funding are different, all have similar focus and aims and will benefit children and young people with severe mental health problems by improving their access to community support and thus reduce the need for hospital admissions.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS Education for Scotland is supporting or commissioning training in counselling as an evidence-based therapy to meet the needs of patients.

Shona Robison: NHS Education for Scotland (NES) delivers and commissions training for clinical psychologists, clinical associates in applied psychology, and neuro-psychologists, as well as specific training for particular evidence-based therapies which require a significant professional expertise. Training in counselling is available and commissioned elsewhere.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Government Health Directorate Psychological Interventions Team will look at counselling in relation to patient pathways and referral criteria for access to services.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is funding an initiative on patient pathways and referral criteria as part of the process of developing an access target for Psychological Therapies. This work will be co-ordinated within the Psychological Interventions Team - to be hosted within NHS Education for Scotland. It will cover a wide range of evidence-based approaches, from those suitable for patients with milder problems (including psycho-educational groups, computerised CBT and guided self-help ) to interventions designed for use with the most complex difficulties.

NHS Expenditure

Gil Paterson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each NHS board spent on performance reporting in 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS Hospitals

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde being able to pay the contractor for the Southern General Hospital project 99% of the build costs before the new sites are completed.

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the planned payments to the building contractor for the new Southern General Hospital provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde comply with best practice.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has not entered into such a contract.

  There will be a monthly payment cycle with payments due based on value of work completed during the month. Assessment and payment period is monthly resulting in the contractor being paid a maximum of one month after the end of the month in which the value has been earned – i.e. paid in arrears. Retention amounts are also applied to each Stage of the Contract, and retention monies for the Adult & Children’s Hospitals are held for two years after handover of each works stage.

  The contract is an NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract and the payment terms follow the principles of the standard contract terms. Details of this contract were provided in the answers to questions S3W-29003 and S3W-29017 on 24 November 2009 and S3W-29188 on 2 December 2009.

  Published NEC3 documentation includes the following endorsement from the Office of Government & Commerce (OGC) advises public sector procurers that the form of contract used has to be selected according to the objectives of the project, aiming to satisfy the Achieving Excellence in Construction (AEC) principles. This Edition of the NEC (NEC3) complies fully with the AEC principles. OGC recommends the use of NEC3 by public sector construction procurers on their construction projects.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

NHS Hospitals

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it has agreed to a contract permitting 99% of the cost of the new Southern General Hospital to be paid in advance of the completion of the site.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has not entered into a contract permitting 99% of costs paid in advance.

NHS Hospitals

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the planned profile is of capital expenditure for the building of the new Southern General Hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: The profile of capital expenditure as at December 2009, as provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is as follows:

  

Year
Estimate as at December 2009


2008-09
£2,700,000


2009-10
£8,000,000


2010-11
£74,100,000


2011-12
£161,700,000


2012-13
£257,900,000


2013-14
£241,900,000


2014-15
£86,900,000


2015-16
£3,000,000


2016-17
£5,500,000


 
£841,700,000



  The figures include the main contract (Stage 1 Laboratories construction, Stage 2 Detailed design of Adult and Children’s Hospitals, Stage 3 Construction of Adult and Children’s Hospitals and Stage 3a Demolition of surgical complex and landscaping) and elements covered by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (enabling works, design fees, equipment and optimism bias). It is also inclusive of VAT.

NHS Hospitals

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many attendances at accident and emergency units there were in NHS Tayside in the last year for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: There were 109,109 accident and emergency (A&E) attendances in NHS Tayside between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2009. The following table includes core and non-core subtotals.

  

A&E Department Type
Number of A&E Attendances


Total for core sites
73,967


Total for non-core sites
35,142


Total for all sites
109,109



  Source: A&E data mart, ISD Scotland.

  A&E departments are classified as either core or non-core sites. Core sites include all A&E departments within large hospitals. Non-core sites include minor injury units, small hospitals with manual systems and health centers in rural areas that carry out A&E type activity.

  Further information for A&E attendances can be found on the ISD website at: 

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4024.html.

  Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost was of an attendance at an accident and emergency unit in the last year for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The average cost of an attendance at a hospital providing accident and emergency outpatient care in financial year 2008-09 was £100.

  Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost was of an acute occupied bed day in the last year for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The average cost of an acute occupied bed day in an NHSScotland hospital in financial year 2008-09 was £569.

  Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new outpatient attendances there were in NHS Tayside in the last year for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: Provisional, published statistics show that the number of new outpatient attendances in NHS Tayside for the financial year ending 31 March 2009 was 131,046.

  As a result of changes to the Patient Administration System in NHS Tayside this figure includes some estimation and may be subject to revision.

  Further information on outpatient attendances can be found on the ISD website at: 

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4156.html.

  Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost was of a consultant outpatient appointment in the last year for which information is available.

Nicola Sturgeon: The average cost of a consultant outpatient attendance at an NHSScotland location in financial year 2008-09 was £112.

Police

Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met senior members of Grampian Police.

Kenny MacAskill: I met Assistant Chief Constable Derek Penman during a visit to Aberdeen on Wednesday 17 February 2010. 

  Whilst in Aberdeen I launched a new youth justice initiative and visited Aberdeen Prison.

Post Office

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when details will be made available of the Post Office Diversification Fund announced in its 2010-11 budget.

Jim Mather: A round of preliminary discussions with key stakeholders is now underway. This will inform further consultation with a view to prompt introduction and delivery of this fund.

Prescriptions

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated for (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13, (c) 2013-14 and (d) 2014-15 for the free prescription policy.

Shona Robison: Specific funding is being made available to health boards to meet the costs of the reductions of prescription charges for the duration of the current spending review period (2008-09 to 2010-11) including £32 million for 2010-11. Whilst we will clearly maintain support for the policy thereafter, decisions regarding specific funding after financial year 2010-11 will be considered as part of the forthcoming spending review.

Prison Service

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to be able to reduce the number of prison places as a result of the introduction of effective policies to reduce reoffending.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government is committed to breaking the cycle of reoffending by tackling the problem of offenders caught in the revolving door of short sentences for whom prison is clearly not working.

  The Scottish Government wants to see these offenders payback positively to their communities. That is why we have proposals in the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill for swift, tough and visible community payback.

  As the independent Scottish Prisons Commission said, that will be the point when prison numbers start to decline. Prison will then be used for its proper purpose of protecting the public from serious and dangerous offenders.

School Transport

David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in what circumstances it would consider it necessary to intervene in a local authority’s school transport policy.

Keith Brown: The provision of school transport in Scotland is the responsibility of individual local authorities. Under the terms of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, authorities have a duty to make such arrangements as they consider necessary for the provision of school transport and in so considering having regard to the safety of pupils. Provided an authority is fulfilling the terms of its legislative responsibilities under the act, there would be no remit for Scottish ministers to intervene in a local authority’s school transport policy.

Schools

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of provision of specialist health care services to pupils in independent residential special schools.

Shona Robison: The assessment of the effectiveness of provision of specialist health care services to pupils in independent residential special schools is a matter for each school in partnership with the NHS boards providing the services, the "home" NHS board and "home" local authority. 

  Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, local authorities have a duty to identify, meet and keep under review the additional support needs of all children and young people for whose education they are responsible.

  Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the guidance on responsibility for provision of specialist health care services to pupils in independent residential special schools as outlined in NHS HDL (2004) 15: NHSScotland: Guidance on Establishing the Responsible Commissioner has been updated.

Shona Robison: Further guidance on responsibility for the provision of specialist health care services to pupils in independent residential special schools was issued to NHS boards on 6 December 2004. The guidance stated that specialist health services should be provided by the NHS board in whose area the school is located, or by another NHS board which is able and willing to provide the service. The guidance also stated that, where it is necessary for some specialist services to be commissioned from another NHS board, this should be by agreement between the school and the NHS board concerned.

  David Stewart (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has powers under the Schools (Safety and Supervision of Pupils) (Scotland) Regulations 1990 to take action against a (a) local authority or (b) school bus operator in the event that the safety and wellbeing of pupils were deemed not to be adequate.

Keith Brown MSP: There are no specific powers in the (Safety and Supervision of Pupils) (Scotland) Regulations 1990 to enable Scottish ministers to take action either against an education authority or a school bus operator.

Scottish Futures Trust

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what payments have been made to consultants by the Scottish Futures Trust since 1 September 2009, broken down by (a) consultant, (b) amount and (d) date of payment.

John Swinney: I have asked Barry White, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust to respond. His response is as follows:

  SFT engages external assistance where necessary to help deliver and support the £5.5 billion of projects in our portfolio and to meet the commitment outlined in our corporate plan of delivering at least £7 of benefits for every £1 spent on the organisation.

  SFT’s expenditure on specialist support since 1 September 2009 falls under three main headings: hub, schools and recruitment. Several of the payments made in that period are for work done over the whole of 2009.

  Consultancy Spend in Relation to the Hub Programme

  In 2009 SFT tendered for the services of financial, legal and technical advisers for the hub programme and, after open competition, placed contracts. Payments made against those contracts since September include £137,289.15 to PriceWaterhouseCoopers for financial advice; £121,457.54 to Pinsent Masons for legal advice, and £50,745.84 to Mott MacDonald for technical advice. This specialist support has enabled SFT to create a set of standardised documents, processes and procedures which can be repeatedly adopted by public bodies across Scotland in taking forward scores of hub projects with an expected value of some £1 billion, and will therefore deliver substantial savings for the public sector over a number of years.

  In line with best practice and recommendations from among others, Audit Scotland, SFT also had part of its work on hub independently scrutinised, resulting in the payment of £6,532 made to Partnerships UK on 22 December 2009. 

  Consultancy Spend in Relation to Schools Projects

  As well as leading the new schools investment programme, SFT is responsible for validating pre-existing schools projects in Moray, Eilean Siar and Orkney. While carrying out the bulk of the work itself, SFT engaged external assistance for some activities. This resulted in payments of £8,129.93 being made to DLA Piper on 25 November 2009, and payments of £6,515.90 to Partnerships UK and £10,925 to Shepherd and Wedderburn on 1 February 2010. 

  Consultancy Spend in Relation to Recruitment

  External support was necessary for SFT to undertake an extensive recruitment exercise during 2009, which enabled nine senior members of SFT’s core team to be appointed from over 350 applicants. SFT paid £55,200 to Hays Recruitment in staged payments between 21 October and 23 December 2009.

  General

  Specialist advice on VAT was purchased from KPMG at £2,941.07 on 14 October 2009.

Social Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to establish a framework for regulatory action for social care service providers based on qualitative and quantitative parameters.

Shona Robison: A single improvement and scrutiny body for social work and social care services, including child protection and the integration of children’s services, Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) will be established from April 2011. 

  SCSWIS will analyse evidence and other information from inspections, registration, complaints, investigations and other professional intelligence and report on the quality of services, how risks can be minimised, problems addressed and continuous improvement achieved. On the basis of performance evidence SCSWIS will move away from cyclical scrutiny programmes towards shared, risk-based, proportionate programmes.

  The creation of SCSWIS will build on the good work of existing scrutiny bodies for the sector and over time, will allow people who use services, their carers and the wider public to see and experience further significant improvement in the quality of their services.

  Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to support the development and regulation of the social care sector.

Shona Robison: A single improvement and scrutiny body for social work and social care services, including child protection and the integration of children’s services, Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (SCSWIS) will be established from April 2011. SCSWIS will focus on outcomes for service users to provide a comprehensive picture of how the needs of people using services are met - from service strategy and design, the assessment of need through to the quality of services provided to individuals.

  SCSWIS will analyse evidence and other information from inspections, registration, complaints, investigations and other professional intelligence. From this analysis it will report on the quality of services, how risks can be minimised, problems addressed and continuous improvement achieved. SCSWIS will collaborate with other scrutiny bodies to understand and report how services could be improved to achieve better outcomes for individuals.

Water Services

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30644 by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2010, how many households are in each band.

Stewart Stevenson: At 31 March 2009, the numbers were as follows:

  

 
Water & Waste Water
Water Only
Waste Water Only
 


Band A*
1,171
21
5
1,197


Band A
544,207
8,536
1,881
554,624


Band B
567,710
10,596
1,582
579,888


Band C
361,449
14,663
1,117
377,229


Band D
284,473
16,913
991
302,337


Band E
284,186
20,778
715
305,679


Band F
152,567
13,614
367
166,548


Band G
92,197
11,999
280
104,476


Band H
8,736
1,724
113
10,573


 
2,296,696
98,844
7,051
2,402,591



  Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30646 by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2010, whether Scottish Water has ever written off debt and, if so, how much.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30646 by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2010, whether Scottish Water will consider writing off debt for the poorest households.

Stewart Stevenson: As set out in the previous response, Scottish Water can write off debt and does so in accordance with the debt write off policies of local authorities. Generally, the reasons for debts being written off are: householders being untraceable; sequestrated; deceased with insufficient finds in their estate, or the amount is so small that it is uneconomic to pursue it. The management and decision making of these matters rests with local authorities as part of the billing, collection and recovery arrangements.

  Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30650 by Stewart Stevenson on 26 January 2010, what set amount is paid to local authorities for the billing and collection of water charges for an individual domestic property.

Stewart Stevenson: The billing and collection arrangements between Scottish Water and the local authorities are currently governed by The Water Services Charges (Billing and Collection) (Scotland) Order 2006. Section 5 of this Order sets out that Scottish Water has individual arrangements (Service Level Agreements) with each local authority. The fee per authority varies in accordance with the specific arrangements within each Service Level Agreement. The average fee per property paid in 2008-09 was £5.85.

  From 1 April 2010, The Water Services Charges (Billing and Collection) (Scotland) Order 2010 sets out similar arrangements and can be viewed at: 

  http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2010/ssi_20100010_en_1.

  Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to undertake a review of the effectiveness of the financial support available to those unable to pay their water and sewerage charges.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government’s policy on water and sewerage charges for the 2010-15 period was set out in its Principles of Charging statement which was published on 27 October 2009. We will review its effectiveness during that time and consider whether further steps should be taken for the next regulatory period.

  For further information on the Principles of Charging, I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-30648 on 26 January 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: 

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Wildlife

Alasdair Allan (Western Isles) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider expanding programmes to control numbers of greylag geese to cover small islands off Uist where they nest extensively.

Roseanna Cunningham: We have no plans to do so at present. In line with international legal requirements, the purpose of the existing scheme is to protect agricultural crops from damage by geese, not to control goose numbers. There is no justification for extending the programme to these off-lying islands because the land on them is not cultivated and so is not at risk in this way.

  Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the maximum sentence for those convicted of wildlife crimes.

Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government has no plans to increase the maximum sentence for those convicted of wildlife crimes. The government’s policy is to maximise the effectiveness of action against criminal behaviour of this kind. To that end we are continuing to encourage active engagement of all key interests through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime.